All my Burdens
by AiriKatsu
Summary: There are times in a person's life when they break down, but when you've hit rock bottom, what's next? You can only go up. Yuffentine, Oneshot, for DND and LP!


_**'For those who loved this world**_

_**And found friendly comfort therein**_

_**This reunion is for you'**_

_Sin: Yeah, uh-huh, who cares? You stole that from Advent Children... Honestly, you suck at dramatic openings... it's just another Yuffentine, and probably a Clouris and Reti added in for flavor becuse everyone has to be happy in your God damn fics..._

Katori: You had to ruin it, didn't you?

_Sin: Of course? Oh /turns to readers/ KatoriTsubasa owns nothing, she even stole this idea off of one of her friends so that doesn't even count as hers..._

Katori: I need to find you a muzzle... . 

Oh and dedications go out to darknightdestiny who is a really loyal fan, I decided to quickly write a oneshot.

Many people are going to be yelling at me to continue 'The plus side of insomnia'

Only, I have SO much time on my hands, with work and the lack of computer use. So tonight, I'm taking a break and writing out something that has been bothering me.

For you, DND, there shall be some shameless Yuffentine fluff! With my own twist thrown in for flavor. I know you'll love me for this one! .

Light seeped into the forgotten hotel room at early morning, rapturing the darkness that the blinds tried so vainly to enshroud in pitch blackness. The young woman that lay in the bed clutched her sheets, tears and sweat streaming down her face. Her fever was strong and her healthy, bright, and normally strong body lay weak and helpless in the bed. No one knew what had struck her ill so quickly and so fearcely; normally her ilnesses lasted only when she was on the airship and no where else.

Her hair was plastered to her face, neck, and sprawld across the pillow, her eyes were squeezed shut as pain coursed through her leg. Her stomach had a dull ache that swirled around in it but never emptied it's contents. Her head pounded and her eyes throbbed whenever she opened her eyes.

All in all, Yuffie knew she was slowly dying; not just in a physical way, but in a mental way as well; her thoughts circled and taunted her, but she could never focus on a thought for it slipped away before she could process it. She could feel it; the pain that enshrouded her heart and left every beat a bloody gushing wound.

It wasn't long until her heart shattered and she would fade into nothingness, lost to wonder in the dark and bask in the feelings of emptiness; questioning herself as to if she would ever return to the light.

'Can anyone ever regain themselves, even after their heart has stopped feeling?'

Such thoughts plagued her and refused to release her from their clutches, her hands gripped the sheets tighter until her knuckles turned white. Her face was paper white and her body was bathed in sweat.

A voice was calling her, she couldn't hear the words, but she could make out a soft male tenor, on that sent a warmth through her. Even though she didn't know what he was saying, his presence was enough to drive some of the pain away from her so she could focus on his voice and listen. He was speaking to her, something she had never expected him to do, he must have found her after the fetal wound had been inflicted.

Not just the venom from the most venomous and dangerous snake demon in the world, that in one bite from even an infant sake you have 60 of survival. But also from the internal wound, or plural form of the word, that had been inforced on her like a knife wound.

Last night, Yuffie Kisaragi had witnessed two of the things that she had feared the most happening before her eyes. Wutai had gone up in a sea of flames after an attack on the crown by an unknown source that Yuffie had dealt with accordingly. After a restless night of searching for survivors and beginning to repair the damage she had decided to begin her trek back to Tifa's place. during which time she had been caught in a deathmatch with a snake demon, she managed to survive the fight; but barely.

The poison had already began to kick in by the time she managed to drag herself into the bar.

The sight that met her was something that made her heart stop. Tifa could have ripped out her heart with her own bare hands, whipped it at the ground, stomped on it, and then thrown it across the room for all the pain that exploded in Yuffie's heart at that moment she entered what she had only just moments before, considered a haven.

For in the middle of the room, stood Vincent Valentine and Tifa Lockheart, in each others embrace.

The thought made Yuffie stomache churn again and angrilly, the pain in her chest doubled, as if punishing her for recalling the sight of Vincent holding Tifa close and whispering something to her.

Yuffie had fainted then throwing her shuriken to the side of the entrace when she fell, she faintly heard Tifa's horrified screams as she fell to the floor. Yuffie was dying, Hell, she was on the border of life and death, and seeing the man she had always secretly loved in the arms of another was the cherry on top of a perfect day.

She heard them again, the sounds of her comrades, first the voice of Barret, his naturally loud voice was quiet today, the second to fallow was Cloud, then Cid, then Nanaki, all of them speaking in whispers to one another. There was a presence in the room, one of whom she knew it belonged to but refused to acknowlage.

Pain shot up her body again, she mentally cursed herself for even thinking that she could trust anyone ever again, Godo was dead, Chekov was dead, Wutai was doomed to failure, she had to grow up in a year because of her fathers demands, Vincent and Tifa might as well be dead for what they did to her, and now she was going to join her father, mother, and Aeris.

The thought comforted her somehow.

But it didn't comfort Vincent in the least.

The man's body and mind froze when he saw Yuffie come stumbling in, throwing her conformer to the side so no one would touch it, and then falling forward into a deep and fitful slumber. He managed to catch her before she made contact with the ground, all thougts of comforting Tifa forgotten as he saw the poisonous wound on her leg.

Walking to the bar had made the circulation of the poison go through her body at an alarming rate, he had picked her up and hurried her to the extra room. He then immediately stripped off her boots and placed his mouth to the wound, sucking out all the poison with his mouth then spitting it on the floor. He then washed out her wound with a rag and bowl of hot water that Tifa had thoughtfully placed by him.

He tried to get out all of the poison that he could see, considering this type turned black on contact with blood. Her veins near the surface of her leg all appeared vibrant against her pale skin. The veins were dark with poison and Vinect knew that if he bled her any more she would die from blood loss.

He had placed a tournequet on her leg to stop the blood flow even more, she was bleeding, which was a good thing in some cases, she was getting the contaminated blood out of her system. But now the blood she was losing was too great; and now that he had done all he could for her, it was up to Yuffie to pull through.

Little did he know that Yuffie was already lost to herself, she was nearly dead, and there was only one thread of hope left in her and it was slowly being devoured by her thoughts.

Tifa had called everyone she could think of who would want to come and help Yuffie, so far no one but Vincent could calm the girl when she began to cry out in pain. Cid had arrived within the hour she'd called, Sherra accompanying him with a worried expression. Cloud, Marlene and Denzel had returned from their shopping trip the next hour with Barret and Nanaki shortly fallowing. Whenever Tifa so much as spoke Yuffie would clutch her heart and cry out, curling up in a fetal position, tears threatening to run down her cheeks.

'Oh Yuffie, please pull through, I don't know what I would do without you, first Aeris...NO! I won't think that way, Yuffie is strong, she'll pull through! I have to put my faith in her like she's always done for me...' Tifa's thoughts were on a rampage, she bit her lip, her thoughts once again returning to her other discomfort. 'I... I hope she isn't mad at me... for the whole Vincent thing,' she stopped to look over at the gunslinger, show was uttering small words to Yuffie, calming down her form.

Whomever said that Vincent Valentine wasn't attractive would have to get their heads checked, he may not be the blonde-hair blue-eyes type, but something about his tall, dark, and mysterious physique along with his entrancing red eyes was alluring to anyone who made contact with him.

Tifa just hoped she hadn't caused Yuffie's condition to worsen by being in his arms... Tifa had always sensed thebond the Ninja and gunslinger held. They were always staying up on guard duty together, they were never far apart even after the battle with Sephiroth, or after the whole Kadaaj incident. Yuffie was the one with Vincent when he had finally gotten a phone, she had came bounding in with a disgruntled looking Vincent not too far behind.

Come to think of it, every time she had seen Yuffie, Vincent had been accompanying her for some reason or another, it was even through the youngest member of Avalanche that she had learnt of Vincent's Birthday. He was always with her, he even had left to escort her back to Wutai.

It made her wonder if she would ever have that sort of relationship with anyone, even more so after the events of shortly before Vincent stopped by.

Yuffie felt her lungs begin constricting and she gasped for air, she felt so broken down and naked, being so weak in front of everyone in the room. Vincent reached out and touched her arm, he didn't know what posessed him to do such a thing, but in all amazement, it turned out that Yuffie calmed right down and she wasn't hyperventalating anymore. She moaned in pain but then, her eyelips fluttered just a bit and she found the courage to open her eyes.

"V-vin...Vincent?" She breathed out in a raspy and weak voice, she blinked a few times and then slowly egan to sit up in bed, everything in the room went dead as Vincent lightly pushed her back down into a lying position. "My... bod...body... it h-hurts so...much..." Her eyes squeezed shut as another wave of pain hit her.

"I know," He whispered back, his voice still not conveying any emotion to her current predicament, but all one had to do was look into his eyes to see the panic and apprehensiveness that swam in the crimson depths. "You were severely poisoned, I think you'll be fine now, you must rest." With that he turned towards Tifa and then gestured to the rest of the room, wordlessly telling her to clear them out.

Tifa caught on rather quickly, she ushered everyone out, and ignored Marlene's pleas to go see Yuffie and Denzel's question as to if Yuffie was going to be OK. Only Barret stayed behind, he shifted from one foot to the other and then looked over at Yuffie, debating if he should ask her the question. Weakly, Yuffie tilted her head to watch him.

"What is it?" She asked calmly, her voice far more strong then she felt.

"Y-your star thing, did... didcha want me to go get it for yah-"

"NO!" She screamed, bolting up in bed before Vincent could even hope to stop her, she flinched slightly but her eyes were alaze on Barret, "Make sure NO ONE touches it, you hear me? Don't let anyone go near it!" She was panicked, her eyes were wide and horror struck at the thought of someone touching her weapon.

Barret seemed taken aback at her outburst, but he numbly nodded and nearly ran from the room, Tifa wavered in the doorway, but Yuffie would not meet her gaze. She sighed and then fallowed the others and slipped out into the hallway.

Vincent didn't know why his simple question had effected her so, but she was so riled up now that he didn't have a hope in hell of calming her. He reached out to steady her but to his surprise she flinched at his touch and moved away from him in a hurried motion. A whimper of pain escaped her from her sudden movement, but she eyed him as if she was a lost and abused puppy, unable to trust anyone.

She wrapped her arms around herself and slowly curled up her leg, trying not to cause any more bleeding to occur.

"Yuffie...-"

"No..." She cried in a broken voice, he stared at her, trying to figure out what she had meant by that, his hand dropped to the sheets but he did not move from his position. "No... no, no, no, no, just... just stop... stop the pain... I can handle the poison, but I can' handle this..." She spoke no more, for she had fainted once again, Vincent caught her and lay her back onto her pillow.

Her face was more peaceful then the last time her had closed her eyes, and after a few tense moments of making sure she was still breathing, Vincent touched her forehead, fever claimed his senses and he knew she wasn't simply suffering from the snake bite, there was something more, so much more then that.

Nightmares surrounded her in her sleep, voices of unknown demons sneered at her, jibed at her, prodding at her deepest secrets and laughing as she slowly fell apart. Her heart was cracked so badly that it was a wonder how it was still kept together, the devestation of her loss ate at her, until something clicked. Her eyes snapped open, and she knew she had been healed by a full-cure, and given the best poison remedies, but instead of a happy Yuffie that wanted to greet the day and was thankful she was alive a darker, dead one filled her place.

Wordlessly she slipped from her bed and walked over to the door, it was deep night by now and she was sure everyone was downstairs by now or sleeping. She would simply grab her conformer and leave, no one would stop her and no one would care. She walked over to the stairs and ignored the dizzy spell that washed over her, she tip toed down the stairs, not really knowing what she was doing, but working in an automatic state of mind. she vaguely wondered if this was what someone who had lost their will to live felt like, this dead weight on her chest and a dark feeling in her heart. Perhaps this is what Vincent felt like after he had lost Lucrecia and found out what he had become.

Yuffie was ready to use harsh words, they were on the tip of her tongue, ready to come out if someone tried to stop her from leaving, although, she highly doubted anyone cared. They all just wanted to come see the day that they were finally lifted of the burden of Yuffie Kisaragi. She would not give them what they wanted, she would live, and she would forget all about them once she left this place and never came back. She walked out into the bar area and felt a small tug at her heart to see that the conformer was exactally where she had left it. She quickly snubbed out that flame and walked over to her shuriken, picking it up, then slinging it over her shoulder.

"Where are you going?" She did not turn to face him, his eyes degrading her now, watching her as she slowly turned to stone, much to Vincent's disbelief she began to chuckle bitterly.

"None of your concern monster," Her words were laced with malace, she grabbed the door and swung it open, she stopped before she stepped out into the night and touched her shuriken almost lovingly on the tip, "Tell everyone that they'll never see me again, nor do I ever wish to see their faces." Her eyes peirced his with a dark weight that made him want to break eye contact, no one had ever looked at him in such a way that made him crumple, "I forgive you for touching my Shuriken, but I suppose I should tell you why I did not ever have you or any other Avalanche member touch it," She idly ran her finger across the sharp blade and drew blood, "The way of a Ninja is; if one surrenders their weapon willingly to another, they are trusting their body's, heart's and soul's to the bearer," Her dull smokey eyes flashed dangerously and he was appaled by the dullness there, "You have shown me what you think of me, I understand it now, go be off with your love, I used to care, but now..." She trailed off, and then walked out to the darkness.

Vincent didn't think, he fallowed, he had to know what the hell had happened to her that made her this way he rn out the door and into the cold night, seeing her already jumping uo the side of the building to get to the roof.

Luckily for him, he knew a faster way.

He caught her before she reached the next roof, dragging her down with him and placing her in his lap and wrapping his arms around her. She immediately began to struggle but e clamped her down, beating her in the brute strength category any day.

"What happened?"

"Why the fuck do you care?"

"Are you honestly this selfish?"

"Are you honestly this stupid?"

He had enough, her grabbed her shoulders and made her turn to face him with amazing roughness, she glared into his eyesm something stirring in their depths that he knew was her old self. Before he could pin it, it was smothered out and that hard look had replaced it. "Though it's none of your concern, four hours before I saw you in Lockhearts arms, my country was burned to the ground by a tourist attack, my father and everyone in the pallace died. I am unfit to rule because of aincent laws stating that because I have been defiled, I can have no husband, and therefore, cannot rule. But what do you care? Do you think you can handle my burden, is that why you touched my conformer? You are Wutainese, I knew it from the moment we met, so you SHOULD HAVE known that only someone who is willing to take all of my problems onto themselves can touch my weapon. Can you clean the stains of blood on my hands, the pain of watching everyone I love die before my eyes, the disgust I feel for being too weak to stop a man from having his way with me when I was supposed to be a Ninja in training?" She answered his question for him, "No, no you can't."

He studied her, watching as something welled up inside her and was laying dormant on the surface, waiting to be released. She met his gaze, unflinching, she was always the only one who could without fail. He found it painfully obvious how he felt for her, but he supposed after her whole ordeal, seeing something so innocent would be taken for more.

"And yet that didn't stop you from trying to take my burden's onto you."

Her eyes burned in new vigor and anger, "I was stupid, didn't we already have this conversation, I seem to recall it. I am a 'useless brat' and 'the only think I'm good for is snide remarks and stealing' remember? It was your good friends Wallace and Highwind who so bluntly put it before my eyes."

"Would you _stop_-"

"-stop WHAT DAMNIT! Leave me be! You love Tifa! Leave me out of this! You never cared for me as I care for you, so why are you pushing it?" She shoved off his chest hard and managed to untangle herself from him, she then took out her shuriken and pointed it threateningly at him.

Now of all times he stared at her calmly, her eyes had welled up in tears and she felt her heart breaking all over again, why did she care so much when she felt herself already shattered? "Do you have some sort of satisfaction stomping on the remaining pieces of dignity I have?"

"Are you willing to take all of my burdens onto yourself?" He ignored her question and took an advancing step on her, "Do you want to wash away the blood I've spilt, the lives I've taken, erase my problems? Will you try to heal the heart that's frozen over, and be condemned to a live like that?"

Long tense moments passed after that, he had advanced on her and with each word, step and look he sent her, her resolve weakened until there was nothing left between the two of them but the flimsy wall he held up; called a conformer. Slowly, she lowered her weapon and the tears flew down her cheeks and into the wind, she couldn't believe how heartless he was. But perhaps she had lived with the illusion that she could melt his heart.

"Have you ever had any doubt in the answer to that? I've spelt it out pretty damn clearly by now." fustration ran clear in her voice.

"I want to hear you say it,"

She felt her anger, dispair and fustration come to a breaking point, she snapped and threw her fist at him, which he easily caught, holding onto it strongly until her wrist began to throb.

"Yes damnit! So what about you?"

There was silence once more, his eyes bored into hers. She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and stared at him, waiting for what his answer might be. Regardless of her knowlage of what was happening, she still felt this small bit of hope where he was concerned, as the seconds slipped my her hope was slowly dying again. Eating at what was left of her.

Slowly, he looked to the side and her heart sank, rather nervously he ran a hand through his hair, she narrowed her eyes at him. He looked back at her and finally after what seemed like an eternity, he managed to say what he really felt.

"No other person has ever made me feel the aggrivation, embaressment, annoyance, discomfort," She suddenly began to hear and register the words he was actually saying, "amusement, anger, worry, appreciation for life, challenge, sense of protection, and joy you have brought me," His expression was collected, no real emotions showed on his face, but Yuffie recalled a small part of her that prided herself in knowing exactally what he meant whenever he spoke.

All one had to do was look into his eyes, but Yuffie never knew that she was the only one who could ever do that since Lucrecia. "So I may not deserve your affection, but I'm not going to ignore it either."

"We don't deserve anything after what we've done Vincent." Her tone was filled with hope, but it was quiet, and her eyes were searching his all the while.

"So then, what is this?" His expression was unnaturally soft, and he gently pushed her hair from her face, an endearing act that was small, and maybe not what many would have expected after a confession of love, but for Yuffie it was enough. She knew what it meant for him to show this sort of emotion, even more so after his ordeal with Lucrecia. "Will you believe me that Miss Lockheart was simply confiding in me with her feelings about a certain someone?"

Yuffie chuckled to herself and took a small and uncertain step forward.

"Do I look like I care about Tifa right now?"

"My appoligies,"

And in an instant, he had leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss that made Yuffie's world start spinning.

†

Yuffie Kisaragi may now be the same hyper active bubbily ninja she was when she was in Avalanche, or even the three or so years after that, but at the age of 21 when she had lost everything, she gained everything.

She could feel that 16 year old coming back when she grinned against his mouth and just began to laugh in the middle of a kiss, she couldn't help it. Everything had just turned out so... weirdly... here she was ready to be heartless until the day she died, and she knew she woud have stayed that way too. But now...

Ah, What the hell? It didn't matter anymore...

"Are you alright?" Man did he look worried

"Yeah, I'm just peachy!" With that she jumped into his arms and kissed him again, almost causing both of them to fall off of the roof.

§

Katori: O.o, wow... that came out much more... depressing then I thought it would, I just sat down thinking this was going to be a small little fic about unrequited feelings... then it... uh... got out of control... geesh I've GOT to stop doing this...

_Sin: They're all going to kill you for writting this instead of updating 'The Plus side of insomnia'..._

Katori: Yeah, they will, but I deserve a break and I think tat now I have all this dark stuff out of my system then I can write a nice light ending to that story...

_Sin: Well if I had my way, you'd write more like these... except I would have killed Yuffie off! MUAHAHA!_

Katori: Oh screw you... -.-'... anyways, REVIEW PLEASE! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK! REVIEW YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!

_Sin: You're desperate..._

Katori: I know, but I like reviews! I reallyt want at least 10 from this one I put a lot of heart and soul into it! Oh, to those who are just tuning in, please go visit my other Yuffentines and REVIEW!


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